Diet check - first post!!

[MDnewbie]

First off, I owe the obligatory thanks to all for the info and inspiration I've gathered off this site and its forums for the past year or so. Has been good for me to hear from the broad range of folks on the forums, from hard-core lifters to old working family slobs like me trying to hold off father time.

Have been training about 1 1/2 years, following WBB routines on 3 day split, now trying to bulk, on 4 day split from animalpak.com. Upped my food intake and have put on 2-3/wk pounds in 2 weeks.

Here is more data:
age 37, wt 203-5, BF (?I'd guess about 20%), split - chest/bi, legs, shoulders/tri, back. I use basic movements, including the big 3 (bench, squat, deads). Max lifts (checking this week) bench 280, squat 300, dead - will find out Wed, do 295 for 6-8 reps). The only cardio I have been doing since trying to bulk is 12 min stationary bike warmup before each workout, and brisk walking/yardwork (I literally jog behind the lawnmower for 1 hr) on the weekends. I walk constantly during the day in work - back and forth in the office, lots of stairs in the hospital.

For the diet - I know, bad to start off with excuses, but I am busy MD and father of 3, so I have priorities over my training regimen, although I am doing my best. I bring my lunch and snack foods to work with me so I have control over intake and timing, but often have to eat on the run (even in my car at times). Here is example (not too sure about all cals listed - some are guesswork). By the way, protein powder is EAS Complete Whey, protein bars are EAS carb control.

Pre-workout 5AM
Proetin shake with skim milk
40 gm protein, approx 400 kcal

Breakfast 7AM
Honey nut cheerios, skim milk, banana, protein powder
80gm protein, approx 700 kcal

Morning snack
Protein bar, low fat yogurt
33gm pro, 330 kcal

Lunch noon
tuna sandwich with mustard and sweet relish, wheat bread, orange/apple
40 gm pro, 400 kcal

PM snack 3PM
protein bar
25 gm pro, 220 kcal

Dinner
Varies widely - BBQ chicken x2 breasts, rice, corn or pasta with sausage, fish with rice, turkey burgers with sweet potato, etc.
60 gm pro, 700 kcal (major guesswork)

Bedtime
protein shake
40 gm pro, 400 kcal

Snack food - low fat frozen yogurt or ice cream, 3-4 per week, usually 8-9 PM. Probably 15 gm pro, 400 kcal or so - I'll add 8 gm pro and 200 kcal to daily total as I do this about every other day.

Totals:
Protein: 326
Kcal: 3350.

Since starting to bulk recently, I added pre-workout and bedtime protein shakes to what I was doing before. Also, my prev workouts were on 3 day schedule, with 24 min stationary bike each workout day, and 20 min rowing ergometer on another day.

As noted above, have already noted weight gain over the past 2 weeks.

My goals are to add mass, and ultimately definition. When I first got back to regular exercise over 2 years ago, I was mainly doing rowing and running, with situps and push-ups 2-3 nights per week, and weighed in around 172. This was obviously lower bodyfat than I am now - had a 4-pack at least, so guessing I was about 13-16% (from what I've read on WBB forums). I would like to get around 190-200 with BF in the 10-15% range.

Other than diet advice, other question is how long should bulk and cut cycles last? I was thinking about only 1 month, as I don't want to get too fat during bulk, as I have tendency towrds being heavy at baseline, and don't want to totally get to blob status before cutting. Also, when I do get to cutting, how often for cardio, or should my previous schedule be enough (4 days/week), and are any fat-burners worth the cost to help with cutting? Lastly, would it be good idea to get BF measurement device for reference - I have seen various electronic gizmos available at pharmacies, and know the skin calipers are out there as well. Any recs?

If you get to this point, I appreciate your spending the time to wade through my ramblings. Thanks in advance for any and all advice. May not have training-related advice to give back, but if you need any ENT-related medical advice, I'm here for you!

[drew]

Hey MD. Good to hear from you.

The diet looks really good, you may want to up the cals a bit, but just keep an eye on your weight and see that you don't level off. If that happens, jump about 500 cals a day.

You should bulk/cut for as long as you have to. Just set goals and stick to your diet and routine until you hit those goals. So basically if you want to gain 10 lbs at 1lb per week, you should bulk for about 10 weeks or until you hit your goal. Same with cutting. There's no set time frame. If you want to keep your bf% low, just keep the diet clean and do some HIIT 3-4 days a week.

From what I hear, electronic bf scales are bunk and a waste of money. Calipers can be had much cheaper and they give a fair assessment of bf. Cheapest method is to post some pics and let the experts guess. lol.

Think about starting a journal, I know it's helped me an awful lot as far as motivation goes.

Good luck with your goals. :D

[bradley]

Originally posted by MDnewbie
Have been training about 1 1/2 years, following WBB routines on 3 day split, now trying to bulk, on 4 day split from animalpak.com. Upped my food intake and have put on 2-3/wk pounds in 2 weeks.

As Drew suggested, I would shoot for ~.5-1lb. weight gain each week, so you might need to adjust cals accordingly. Although you will have to be the judge as to whether you are gaining a good ratio of LBM to fat.



Pre-workout 5AM
Proetin shake with skim milk
40 gm protein, approx 400 kcal

Breakfast 7AM
Honey nut cheerios, skim milk, banana, protein powder
80gm protein, approx 700 kcal

Morning snack
Protein bar, low fat yogurt
33gm pro, 330 kcal

Lunch noon
tuna sandwich with mustard and sweet relish, wheat bread, orange/apple
40 gm pro, 400 kcal

PM snack 3PM
protein bar
25 gm pro, 220 kcal

Dinner
Varies widely - BBQ chicken x2 breasts, rice, corn or pasta with sausage, fish with rice, turkey burgers with sweet potato, etc.
60 gm pro, 700 kcal (major guesswork)

Bedtime
protein shake
40 gm pro, 400 kcal

Snack food - low fat frozen yogurt or ice cream, 3-4 per week, usually 8-9 PM. Probably 15 gm pro, 400 kcal or so - I'll add 8 gm pro and 200 kcal to daily total as I do this about every other day.

Totals:
Protein: 326
Kcal: 3350.


Looks as though you are getting in plenty of protein, but you fat intake looks to be low. I would shoot for ~25% of your calories from fat, with most of this coming from healthy sources such as olive oil, fish oil, flaxseed oil, nuts, and peanut butter to name a few.

You might consider adding in a fish oil supplement as well as including some olive oil along with a couple of your meals. A PB sandwich along with some milk makes a good snack, which might could be used to replace one of your morning or afternoon snacks, or you could substitute a serving or two of almonds, walnuts, peanuts, etc.

If needed you can decrease your calories from protein and replace these with fat calories, since you really only need ~1g of protein per lb. of bodyweight.



My goals are to add mass, and ultimately definition. When I first got back to regular exercise over 2 years ago, I was mainly doing rowing and running, with situps and push-ups 2-3 nights per week, and weighed in around 172. This was obviously lower bodyfat than I am now - had a 4-pack at least, so guessing I was about 13-16% (from what I've read on WBB forums). I would like to get around 190-200 with BF in the 10-15% range.

I personally think you would see better results by cutting your bf% down and then bulk, assuming you are at 20% bf currently.



Other than diet advice, other question is how long should bulk and cut cycles last?

You want keep bodyfat levels at a reasonable level, so as to prevent extended dieting after the bulk is over. Although in the end it comes down to personal preference.


Also, when I do get to cutting, how often for cardio, or should my previous schedule be enough (4 days/week), and are any fat-burners worth the cost to help with cutting?

The amount of cardio needed will vary, depending on your current diet and training program. When you begin your cut just stick with your current bulking routine while slowly decreasing calories over a couple of weeks. Continue this process until you are losing a small amount of weight each week, and when weight loss plateaus you can increase cardio. You basically want to make sure you are in a calorie deficit, and this deficit can be created through diet, activity, or a combination of the two. If you want to eat more food, then perform more cardio, or vice versa. Although some cardio is beneficial when dieting, but how much will vary from person to person.

Fat burners can be helpful as a nutrient partioning agent, as well as its effects on energy levels and appetite.



Lastly, would it be good idea to get BF measurement device for reference - I have seen various electronic gizmos available at pharmacies, and know the skin calipers are out there as well. Any recs?

The bio-impedance scales are not very accurate, as they will vary depending on hydration status, etc, but they can provide a rough estimate of whether or not you are gaining/losing bf. Just make sure to use the scales at the same time each day, and under the same conditions.

Skin calipers would provide a more accurate measurement, but are not quite as convenient as hopping on a scale.:)